Twittering the Day Away...

Despite my lack of presence here for (yikes!) half a year, I have not vanished, but have, in fact, actually moved to Germany. The transition has been greater and taken longer than any of us would have thought (frankly, I'm not quite sure we would have done it at all had we know how hard it would be). But now that we are finally getting settled in, I have started a new blog. It's called Fairytale Hausfrau, and it's hosted at Blogger--due to some design issues here at Typepad. My current plan is to keep this blog up and running, though it may lie dormant. I am considering adding Asia-related content here from time to time. For now, I hope you'll join me at Fairytale Hausfrau!

Well, isn't this dandy? New blog friend Erina very kindly presented me with this award, which was created originally by Barb at Skittles' Place. Barb states that this award is "for bloggers who shine their light throughout the Blogoshere. Some
do it with humor, others with creativity, and others with their kind
and thoughtful natures." Thanks to Barb for creating the award and to Erina for thinking of me--I'll pass along the love soon!

to stop trying to make each post into a treatise. To stop waiting until I have cadres of Exciting! International! Vacation! photos and just post a couple of pics of whatever I find interesting--as in, stuff around the house and around our neighborhood. I've found that many of my favorite bloggers do this--take the simple things in their lives, imbue them with some meaning, and then share them with others who will appreciate them. So, hereafter I vow hope to share what I appreciate in my everyday life, not just what I've seen in Vietnam or Australia, and not just what I find Hilarious with a capital H. Expect to hear from me more often, now that I'm not trying to write a book every time I post.

This just in: former talk-show host Ricki Lake had a homebirth! The writer of this blog thinks she may have known this already (as the homebirthed child is now five) but had filed the information away in her brain thinking she was unlikely to need it again. What was she to do, start blabbing to people that "Ricki Lake had a homebirth, too. See, I'm not the only weirdo!" ? Admittedly, the writer had made comments to friends and acquaintances regarding her own son's homebirth, but Ricki Lake's name had never graced her granola-crumbed lips, at least not in the context of birthing options.

So the reason for mentioning her now, in seemingly non sequitur-like fashion? Well, according to the writer's source, Ms. Lake has teamed up with director Abby Epstein to make a documentary about birth, called The Business of Being Born. Various births are portrayed, including Lake's second child's waterbirth. The writer believes this documentary could be, and hopefully is, a very good thing.

In other news, writer of this blog wins Major Award. She is smiling, because she doesn't normally make money these days, and money is good. She likey money, and she may decide it wouldn't hurt to make some more sometime soon. Details to follow, if and when appropriate.

P.S. The writer of this blog does not intend to bootleg the fabulous enidd's writing style; she'll be back to First Person in her next post.

I've recently come to realize two things: one, that I'm lousy at keeping this blog "regularly"-updated, and two, that not one single soul out there arranges their life around my blog. Shocking, I know.

Despite the semi-rhetorical nature of these observations, I'm getting grumpy. The sun is shining, the new issue of Domino has arrived, and I have some lovely yellow flowers in a rectangular glass vase on the dining table, thanks to Husband. Overall, my mood is good, as it should be, but I'm still a bit miffed. The blogosphere's got me down again--in a choke-hold, as it were. I enjoy blogging, and I don't plan to stop, but it's becoming clear to me that my blog has something of an identity crisis. I have a feeling that people visit here and have no idea what to think. Is this a Japan blog? An expat blog? A mom blog? Is it about homeschooling, or books, or the environment? Art? Homemaking? Food? Travel? What the heck??

Well, I've decided, unapologetically, that it's all of the above, and more. It's a personal blog, in that it truly represents the facets of my personality (most of them, anyway). It's not focused--I don't do just parenting book reviews, or photos of our life in Japan. I have neither the time nor the inclination for keeping multiple blogs, and certainly it's obvious that if I can't keep one updated, I'd have a terrible time with three. If it so happens that my one blog is cluttered, strange, and complex, so be it--that sounds about like me.

I know, I know: I just need to remember that this blog is for me. It's a place for me to list books I'm reading and a place to display photos from recent travels. It's a place where I can organize and share lists of the blogs I most enjoy reading as well as my current fave music selections. And perhaps most of all, it's a place where I can get my creative juices flowing on a (somewhat)-regular basis, in the hopes of sometime making a bit more out of this writing thing.

That said, I still wish more people would visit, and--oh, wow!--even leave a comment! Those have been few and far-between lately. Funny, because it seems that my blogging frequency and choice of topics don't have a direct correlation to site visits and comments (though go figure: my post about Beer-chan seems to be enduringly-popular--perhaps I should write more often about inane Japanese cartoon characters with bizarre names).

Feeling uninspired? Plagued by attacks of overt political correctness? Dull or easily-offended friends and colleagues got you down?

Try an injection of The Sarah Silverman Program! After just one dose, a new day will dawn of immense snarkarrific possibilities, and you'll be left feeling thankful for your own small happinesses and prouder than ever of your clever sense of humor.

Dosage: Inject as necessary, though a daily dose might be pushing it. Can be taken alone or with a group of like-minded adult friends, with or without massive quantities of freshly-baked cookies. Injection takes effect immediately.

Side effects: Most commonly reported include projectile nasal and oral spewing of any liquids consumed during injection. Don't say we didn't warn you. Dosage may need to be monitored closely should you begin penning your own songs about bodily functions or the homeless guy down the street.

Contraindications: lack of intelligence, inability to "get" or "take" a joke, desire to sue "someone" immediately after viewing Borat, Amy Sedaris, or those crazy guys from Little Britain.

I'd just like to say that I deserve some kind of reward. I do. It's official: I've managed to post more than four times this month, and there are days in December--about ten of them--left for more! I may break my own sorry monthly blogging record if I'm not careful. Now, I'm not foolish nor narcissistic enough (though we personal bloggers are all much-maligned as such!) to believe that my handful of faithful readers have been sulking in respective corners around the world, with one question on their lips: "Why oh why did she not share any written details or photographs of her glamorous existence today, or yesterday, or the day before that, or the day before that--wait, who is she, anyway?" But I still feel I have some 'splainin' to do. What prompted the descent in September from my blogging apex of four-times-a-week in June? Was I out of ideas? Nope. Was I preparing for permanent departure from the blogosphere? Certainly not! Had I accepted a strenuous, time-consuming job teaching hemp-bracelet-braiding to young Japanese women (don't laugh--I actually did this one time, long ago)? Not that, either.

This is what happened. First, I spent too much time one weekend writing an essay for which I, of course, did not get paid, as it was published by a lovely but cash-poor online journal. Hunching over the laptop on Sunday while the rest of the fam went off to do something (surely very) fun made me surly. The surliness intensified, and I decided writing was to blame. To combat the surliness and to keep Husband and Children from their own ill-temperedness, I basically went MIA in the blogosphere--in other words, I did almost no blog-writing or -reading. A slight disclaimer regarding the last sentence must be made as I relate the second reason for my blogging-decline: I did continue reading the craftiest of the craftiest-ever blogs out there, which prompted me to decide that my time might be better-spent making my family's enclave a bit lovelier than by making the blogging world a bit snarkier.

But here's what I discovered during the next couple of months: I got no more work done, crafty or otherwise, when I wasn't blogging than when I was! How is such a thing possible? I don't know, but it may have something to do with that thing Husband keeps talking about, a foreign term of some sort, called "time management." I think that's what he calls it. Maybe by using my time more judiciously, I can squeeze in more useful and beneficial activities than I ever thought possible! And if I continue with this logic, I will soon be able to knit a sweater, bike around the entire city, read four books and write two, and cook dinner for the neighborhood--all in one day.

So anyway, I'm back, baby! Surely you must be wondering, though, why on earth I would choose to increase my blogging frequency in December, right around the holidays. Well, that's easy--I have too much other stuff to do, so I'm actually procrastinating by blogging! Now if I can just trick myself into doing this next month...

About that reward: somebody give me something, already. Cash and chocolate both freely and greedily accepted. As if you care.

Since I've been such a lazy blogger as of late, why not find another way to indulge my laziness by (in lieu of writing a real post) directing you to this essay that I wrote recently for Mosaic Minds? But a disclaimer: if you happen to be a suet-munching raw-foodist, you might want to skip this one. Real post coming soon, I promise...

It just dawned on me a couple of hours ago that--land sakes, the BlogHer Conference is happening, live, right now! And I'm missing it! I'm still pretty new to blogging, and I undoubtedly have much to learn, so I considered becoming despondent about missing such a great educational opportunity. But then I went online and found that, wonder of wonders, some of the bloggers in attendance are actually blogging about their experiences and workshops they're attending. Yeah, imagine that! I'm a little slow.

Also, I was delighted to see that PhatMommy came up with the idea of "BlogHer in Spirit" for the rest of us--a way for non-attendees to discuss a handful of the workshop topics, virtually. I've chosen to respond, somewhat-briefly, to Saturday's Topic #1: Identity and Obligation. Here are PhatMommy's discussion questions for this topic:

How do you decide what aspects of your identity you will reveal in your blog: culture, sexual orientation, political ideology, religion?

How do you feel about using your real name? Your childrens’ names?

If you blog about your race, religion, etc, - or even a personally difficult time of your life - do you feel it opens you (and your family) up to attack and/or do you feel it is a wonderful way to promote acceptance and diversity?

Here's what's funny: I haven't been willing to reveal much (okay, virtually nothing) about religion, politics, or anything that could be construed as sexuality-related--but I certainly don't mind reading what others have to say on these topics! It's just that for me--well, I was raised (good Southern gal that I am) to believe that some things are better kept to oneself, that privacy is a virtue--that some topics are, you know--tacky. I still believe that's a good policy, for the most part, but I also believe that silence on topics that might make people "uncomfortable" does no one any favors. I know, I'm a big tangle of contradictions! Of course, there's also the fact that, while my blog's topics may at times seem wildly-divergent, I've pretty much steered clear of certain topics just because I've decided not to make them the focus of my blog.

Regarding privacy: I don't use my family members' real names, and thus far I've not posted any identifying photos that show just how cute my kids actually are. It likely matters not at all that I don't, but yeah, I'm a smidgen neurotic. Also, I'm trying to stay away from sharing embarrassing information and anecdotes about my children that might prompt them to creep in and smother me in my sleep a few years down the road. Self-preservation is a high priority!

I do think that writing on "hot button" topics can indeed make a blogger prey to verbal attack, but I also believe that a discussion of these potentially-divisive topics can be a positive experience--at least it could be, if people didn't enter into the equation. Darned people!